I suggest that we are thieves in a way.
If I take anything that I do not need for my own immediate use,
and keep it, I thieve it from somebody else. I venture to suggest
that it is the fundamental law of Nature, without exception, that
Nature produces enough for our wants from day-to-day, and if only
everybody took enough for himself and nothing more, there would be no
pauperism in this world, there would be no man dying of starvation
in this world. But so long as we have got this inequality so long
we are thieving. I am no socialist and I do not want to
dispossess those who have got possessions; but I do say that,
personally, those of us who want to see light out of darkness have
to follow this rule. I do not want to dispossess anybody. I
should then be departing from the rule of Ahimsa. If somebody else
possesses more than I do, let him. But so far as my own life has
to be regulated, I do say that I dare not possess anything which I
do not want. In India we have got three millions of people having
to be satisfied with one meal a day, and that meal consisting of a
chapatti containing no fat in it, and a pinch of salt. You and I
have no right to anything that we really have until these three
millions are clothed and fed better. You and I, who ought to know
better, must adjust our wants, and even undergo voluntary starvation in
order that they may be nursed, fed and clothed.

Speeches and
Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, 4th Edn., pp.384-85

Enjoy Thy Wealth by
Renouncing It

The rich should ponder well as to what is
their duty today. They who employ mercenaries to guard their wealth
may find those very guardians turning on them. The moneyed classes
have got to learn how to fight either with arms or with the weapon
of non-violence. For those who wish to follow the latter way, the
best and most effective mantram is:(Enjoy thy wealth by renouncing
it). Expanded it means: “Earn your crores by all means. But
understand that your wealth is not yours; it belongs to the people.
Take what you require for your legitimate needs, and use the
remainder for society.” This truth has hitherto not been acted upon;
but, if the moneyed classes do not even act on it in these times
of stress, they will remain the slaves of their riches and passions
and consequently of those who over-power them.

I see coming the day of the rule of the
poor, whether that rule be through force of arms or of non-violence.
Let it be remembered that physical force is transitory even as the
body is transitory. But the power of the spirit is permanent, even
as the spirit is everlasting.

Harijan, 1-2-1942,
p, 20

To take something from another without his
permission is theft of course. But it is also theft to use a
thing for a purpose different from the one intended by the lender
or to use it for a period longer than that which has been fixed
with him. The profound truth upon which this observance is based is
that God never creates more than what is strictly needed for the
moment. Therefore whoever appropriates more than the minimum that is
really necessary for him is guilty of theft.